


Positive and Negative Preferences

by mpmwrites



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Coffee Addiction, Deviancy (Detroit: Become Human), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 20:53:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17373116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mpmwrites/pseuds/mpmwrites
Summary: Gavin is addicted to coffee and doesn't know how to make friends. Richard just happens to be the barista that ends up on the receiving end of both issues.





	Positive and Negative Preferences

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I perticipated in @dbhevents Secret Santa, and I wrote a fic for @exfriends!
> 
> This is a Reed900 Coffee Shop AU, rated T for language.
> 
> Hello darling @exfriends. I am so very sorry you had to wait this long. I’m afraid it’s entirely my fault, because I bit off more than I could chew around the holidays this year, and unfortunately that led to quite the delay. I also want to apologize that I didn’t go exactly with what you requested. I saw that you liked other types of AUs and this kind of just clicked into place for me. (But if it’s really not your thing, I’d be happy to write something new. You deserve a great gift!) Here’s hoping you enjoy.
> 
> Also a thanks to @the-writing-of-a-gay-idiot for giving me so much feedback!
> 
> On with the show!

It wasn't that he _wanted_ to be an asshole. Really, he knew he was an asshole, and could see himself acting it out in real time, but he had absolutely no reason to try to be better. Part of it was the coffee thing. He'd hardly slept in college, and became a six-cup-a-day person, and he'd rarely admit it, but he was even _worse_ without caffeine. So, nearly fifteen years later, he figured that if coffee was gonna keep him from getting fired for shitting on someone stupid, he could be addicted to worse things.

When the android behind the counter suggested that he was their most frequent customer, he shrugged. Most days, he came in three times: on the way to work, on lunch, and before catching the bus home. Large coffee, nonfat milk, and one sugar. Of course it was always perfectly sweetened, perfectly steaming, because it was an _android_ who made it, and most days he didn’t even have to say his order before Richard was ringing him up with a smile.

He never stayed, preferring to take his coffee back to work or drink it on the bus so he could enjoy it in relative privacy. He wasn't much interested in sitting around while the 20-somethings giggled their way through their overly-sweet lattes, and certainly wasn't going to indulge in some calorie-laden baked goods when he could get something healthier and cheaper just about anywhere else. He could take his day home and tell his cat about all of the fucked up shit he saw in the world.

His birthday, however, brought on a whole new series of shitty feelings about being alone and being 37 with his only friend as his cat. He told himself he had friends. That he wasn't alone. That someone might care if he wasn't around. By the time he headed to the coffee shop after work, he was feeling worse than he did when he woke up that morning.

"Good afternoon, Gavin." Rich smiled as he passed the usual green paper cup over the counter. "Did you have a pleasant rest of the day?" Pleasant. Yeah. The same question he asked every other afternoon receive the same answer Gavin always gave him: a shrug and a half smile. As he turned to leave, Gavin's eyes settled on an empty table by the window at the front of the café. There was only one chair. He thought about his apartment, and sitting alone, probably ordering some indulgent junk food as a gift for himself, and falling asleep to the nightly weather report; waking up with a stiff neck before finally dragging himself to his actual bed.

He sat down at the table.

He nursed his coffee as he listened in to strangers conversations and flipped through social media on his phone. When he'd drained the last drop, he sat the cup down with a hollow noise and looked out the window. The sun had set mostly and headlights glared against the window was cars moved down the street. The bus passed; Gavin had at least 15 minutes until the next one. He took a breath and wiggled the empty cup against the table, listening to the noise it made and wondering why he had nothing better to do on his own damn birthday other than sit alone in a coffee shop.

"You come to get coffee, three times a day, five days a week." Richard said as he approached the table carefully, "And have done so for at least the thirty seven weeks I've been employed here. This is the first time you've ever stayed." He observed, sitting down a new, steaming coffee. It was in a black ceramic mug.

Gavin looked up at him blankly, not having an answer to the statement, "Uh, yeah." He fumbled.

"I've been wondering why, if I may ask." Richard offered a small, awkward smile.

"I guess…" Gavin paused to summon a reason as he fished his wallet out of his back pocket, "Well, It's my birthday, I didn't want to be alone." He explained quietly, suddenly embarrassed by the concept. He wondered why he even felt the need to answer, much less with such a vulnerable truth.

"In that case, I'm very glad to have your company." The barista's words were formal, but tinted with something genuine. He waved a dismissive hand as Gavin made to hand him a few bills for the refill. "Consider it a thank you for your loyalty." Richard said, before moving away to tend the counter once again.

Gavin stayed past the next bus, and then a few more, until it was completely dark outside. When he finally had a renewed thought to leave, the rest of the café was already empty. Richard was milling about, wiping down tables and pushing in chairs as Gavin stood and took the mug to the counter. When he turned to the door, Richard followed, rescuing something from the counter as he hastened to catch up. As Gavin laid his hand on the door handle, Richard was behind him, reaching over his shoulder to flick open the lock, "I lock the door after closing." He explained.

"Closing? When did you close?"

"Eleven minutes ago." Richard smiled, holding out the green paper bag he'd taken from the counter. "This is for you. I usually compost the remaining baked goods, but I didn't see the harm in giving you a birthday treat, especially after you hadn't eaten all evening."

Gavin took in that fraction of a smile that Rich always served him alongside his coffee. He held a good five or so inches over Gavin, but was at least just as muscular if not more so that Gavin was. It pinged in Gavin's mind that it was all artificial, that he'd been designed to be handsome and _perfect_ , but the realization of his appeal struck Gavin all the same. Richard was good looking, had been keeping track of Gavin's visits, and was some kind of concerned for his nutritional well-being.

The idea of Richard's regard for him was unexpected, and came with a small tilt of Gavin's chin before he realized he was leaving. "Uh, I'm sorry for keeping you. Thanks for letting me stay." Gavin said as he remembered to be a semi-decent person.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you please." Richard reminded him, holding the door open to the cool fall night.

\-----

Gavin transferred paperwork to his portable the following afternoon, toting it with him to the coffee shop. He worked his way through it over his usual coffee and left cash next to his empty cup that Richard didn't take when he quietly left his refill. He waited until the last customer left and checked the time. Fifteen minutes before closing, Richard was idling behind the counter.

"Your boss can't be letting you just keep giving me free coffee." Gavin proclaimed as he brought up the empty mug and left behind cash.

"We offer a complimentary refill to guests who choose to dine in." Richard explained lightly. He watched Gavin curiously. Gavin offered a small snort of amusement,

"You're telling me I come in here and pay for three cups a day when I could just stay and only pay for two?" He grinned wryly.

"I suppose you could, but then, how would you earn the money to pay for those two cups?" Richard took the mug and turned around to put it on the counter next to a small sink. "Despite our appreciation of your patronage, I'd think that you'd be more valued if you continued working."

"I think you overestimate my abilities as a cop." Gavin leaned on the counter slightly.

"Well, I'd prefer that you never have an opportunity to prove me wrong." Richard smiled, and maybe Gavin was looking differently, but his smile seemed more genuine than it did when he normally ordered his coffee. He vaguely noticed a light shutting off outside the shop, prompting Richard's LED to throw a blip of yellow before being summarily returned to blue.

"I guess that means it's closing time." Gavin sighed, pushing away from the counter. He turned to leave, but turned back and leaned his whole torso over the counter, slipping the payment intended for coffee into Richard's apron pocket. "Call it a tip." he offered an awkward wink.

"Gavin, as an android, I am not permitted to have personal finances." Richard's smile was gone as he extracted the bills with a slow movement.

"Well, I'm not taking it back. Who's arresting you?" He shrugged, retreating toward the door with a cocky smile.

\-----

 The rest of the week continued on in that way; Gavin sat at the café for hours, and would chat amicably with the android barista once the shop was empty save for them. He left at closing every night with a smile and occasionally with a sugary treat in hand.

Gavin knew he was fooling himself. After all, and android couldn't have more personal feelings toward him than any other being; human, android, or otherwise. Still, he made himself get up and go to work each day with the prospect of a fresh cup and one free refill after. Companionship from anyone other than his cat was more than he deserved, he figured, but at least Richard was someone he could talk to. Sure, they never talked about anything with any kind of weight, but it was better than talking to himself in the quiet of his apartment.

He let himself believe that it was something like friendship.

So, when Richard leaned across the counter and kissed him, time stopped. Not in a stupid romantic comedy way, but in a way that shook Gavin to his core in self doubt. Richard was an android. Richard _couldn't_ feel anything toward him. _He_ shouldn't have felt anything for a walking, talking computer. He decided not to.

"What the hell?" Gavin's face contorted in confusion and offense when the android pulled away. He waited for an answer as Richard's LED spun to yellow then red and back.

"I am sorry, Gavin, I must have misunderstood your intentions." He stared at Gavin for a long moment before busying himself with tidying the counter.

"My intentions?" Gavin sputtered, failing to assume an appropriate reaction.

"My social protocols interpreted your new interest in being at the café and consistent attempts at companionship as a wish to enter into a romantic relationship." Richard explained. _We offer a complimentary refill to guests who choose to dine in._

"Oh." Gavin dismissed the offence and remained pensive. "You're an android. You don't have feelings, especially not for humans." He drew. Richard froze and his LED looked like it was trying to send a distress signal. Eventually, he answered.

"That is correct." He mentioned, though it sounded more like a realization than a confirmation. Somehow, Gavin felt a little hurt.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." Gavin offered, leaving his mug and retreating quietly.

\-----

"Good morning, what can I get you?" Gavin stared at the android taking his order. It wasn't Richard, but a female who looked young and had red curls framing her face. He couldn't see an LED, but the blue armband was telling enough.

"Uh, large coffee, nonfat milk, one sugar. To go." He told her, baffled by her presence. He paid her and she turned away to prepare his order. "Do you know what happened to Richard?" He said casually.

"Richard was found to be malfunctioning, I am his replacement." She didn't seem fazed as she set his cup on the counter.

"Oh. Is he going to be back?"

"I'm not sure, I'm sorry." She offered a kind smile, and moved on to the next customer. When he came back at lunch, she was still there, and in the afternoon too. He didn't stay.

Richard didn't return in the following days, and Gavin stopped coming in early for his coffee, and didn't bother to prolong his commute for the stop either. Two weeks later, he'd begun to favor  the coffee shop closer to work for his lunch breaks, and let thoughts fade of his usual place.

It wasn't that their coffee was any better; he just couldn't find the effort to go out of his way to go to the old place anymore. It was different. It didn't feel like his place anymore, and he couldn't much find a reason why. Suzie's was closer anyway; only a block walk from the station, even if the coffee wasn't quite as good, the convenience made up for it.

Not to mention, the less time he spent walking, the more time he could spend working, and with the elevated counts of rogue androids in the city he was needed more than ever. Rumors of an uprising and of _feeling_ androids whispered through the city, though he didn't pay them any mind. A fantasy of robots with feelings didn't make their human victims any less dead, or homicide any more legal. Still, every once in a while, the memory of that long moment of hesitation and the flickering of Richard's LED had him wondering if all rumors had root in truth after all. He tried not to dwell on it. Realistically, Richard had either been 'decommissioned' or 'recalibrated' and in either case, there was no reason for him to be anywhere on Gavin's radar anymore.

Malfunctioning, the replacement had said. Malfunctioning, like he had a glitch or dropped too many dishes or messed up customers orders. Malfunctioning, like giving away free pastries after closing time. Malfunctioning, like misinterpreting the actions of a pathetically lonely detective.

It was raining the night he followed Anderson into Carlos Ortiz's home, where the murder had taken place. They milled around, looking at eerily lit evidence and the filth of a drug addict's dwelling, until Gavin thought to look up and had Hank help him climb into the attic.

He interrogated an android, and suddenly it was all too real. There was blue blood all over the table, and he could still hear the android's panicked ramblings long after he was dismissed for the night. He walked for a while, and while the rain had stopped the sidewalk was still wet enough for his shoes to be soaked through. Ortiz's android felt. It was scared and stressed and confused, and those were all decidedly things that it had not been programmed to be.

His legs took him to the old coffee shop, and as he moved inside to get some fuel and clear his mind a little, he thought he saw Richard for a brief moment. He rubbed his eyes, figuring he was more tired than he realized, then looked back up to the counter. Sure enough, Richard was standing there, staring.

"Large coffee, nonfat milk, one sugar. To go." Gavin breathed slowly, not making eye contact. Richard stalled before turning away and grabbing an already prepared cup from the back counter and handing it over.

"You're Gavin." He said.

"Yeah, that's me, tin can." Gavin couldn't help but smile at the sound of his own name as he passed over his payment and took the cup.

"Enjoy." Richard offered plainly, watching Gavin with a serene expression until Gavin turned slowly and left.

It was awkward. Gavin figured if Richard had been human, he couldn't have expected much more than some kind of fumbling awkwardness remaining from their last encounter. But, Richard wasn't human, and he'd said Gavin's name like it meant nothing to him. He'd had Gavin's coffee waiting, even though Gavin hadn't been there in months, and it wasn't really hot anymore, like it'd been sitting there for a while. There had been no indication that Richard remembered, though, and Gavin knew there was no chance that he would have been returned to work without some kind of reformation for his 'malfunction'.

He wasn't going to let himself be pulled into all of it again. Richard wasn't human; he wasn't Gavin's friend or his _anything._ Customer files had been left in his system, probably. He'd seen Gavin walking down the street and just remembered a formerly regular customer and their order, and while Gavin was musing over his wet shoes, he made the order. He didn't owe Richard his company just because he memorized his order like any other regular customer's. He couldn't force friendship on a service bot that couldn't say no, and, yeah, he was kind of an asshole for doing it in the first place.

A _pathetic_ asshole.

\-----

He propped his feet on his desk as he reasoned with himself over a game of solitaire on his phone. He had no reason to feel rejected, he had no reason to feel even more lonely than he did on his birthday. He had no reason to ignore the cup from Rosie's because of any of it, either. He let himself get lost in his game and refused to think about all the mushy stuff that made up the smaller parts of Gavin. He shut himself off so completely that he didn't notice one of the station androids hovering next to his desk.

"Detective Reed?" She reasoned, and when he didn't answer, she reached a hand out to his shoulder and repeated herself, making Gavin jump at the contact.

"Fuck, what do you want?!" He barked at her, dropping his feet and straightening defensively.

"There is someone here, in the lobby, requesting to see you personally. It is an android. They said you ordered delivery."

"I didn't order anything. Must be malfunctioning--"

Malfunctioning, like making a coffee for a customer that didn't come anymore.

Gavin stood, though frowning, and followed her back to the receptionist's desk. There, behind it, stood Richard.

"Gavin, I was wondering if you had a moment to talk." He was holding a coffee, steam piping out of the little vent on the top.

"Yeah, I got time." Gavin shrugged, letting himself be led outside. It was brisk, but sunny. The fresh air brightened him a little.

"I was recalibrated to correct processing malfunctions in my system four months and three weeks ago." Richard stated abruptly as he faced Gavin."I had made an inappropriate gesture to a customer, and my owners were concerned that I had been affected by deviancy. I was returned to work three weeks later." He was practically rambling, if his speech hadn't sounded so formal and calculated. "Every day since then, I have made this same coffee, four times a day, without being prompted to." He held out the cup to Gavin. Gavin took it slowly, watching Richard carefully. "I am afraid I lied to you."

"Lied to me?" Gavin gaped at the sudden change of context. "Androids can't lie." he demanded.

"Deviant androids can." Richard posed, scrutinizing Gavin's expression. "And to correct the mistruth I told you: _some_ androids have feelings, and certainly can have feelings for humans." He admitted. Gavin waited for further explanation and received nothing.

"You're saying that you have feelings?"

"Since I've no prior experience to go on, it's hard for me to process, but I do know I have both positive and negative preferences for arbitrary things." He explained. He looked nervous. "For example, I do not like cleaning up spilled drinks. I do not like the idea of being recalibrated again. I _do_ like being in your presence."

"So you brought me free coffee now? For what? Because you _like_ seeing me?"

"My owners were not pleased that I continued making drinks for customers that did not exist. They were going to send me back to Cyberlife to be fully decommissioned. I… I didn't want to die." His LED shone yellow for a quick moment. "I knew that If I was dead, I wouldn’t be able to see you again, and I did not want that. The idea caused forty-two separate system errors."

"Because of fuckin' _me_?" Gavin frowned. He wasn't worth that, and he knew it.

"Entirely because of the concept of not seeing you again. I could not let that happen, so I made your coffee, paid for it, and left."

"You bought me a coffee." Gavin felt like the king of intelligent responses. "How? _Why_?" Richard hesitated for a long moment

"Well, a very kind customer tipped me generously once, despite my protests." He flashed that genuine smile again, as Gavin took a sip of the, as usual, perfectly made coffee. "And I've since learned, that an appropriate way of initiating a romantic relationship is to buy your interest a meal or beverage."

"Gavin choked "Jesus, fuck that's hot." He whimpered, forcing himself to swallow the scalding drink.

"I did make it extra hot so it would still be warm when I got it to you."

"Well, mission accomplished." Gavin grumbled, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

"Gavin, I really would like to take you on a date." Richard frowned at the lack of response to his admission.

"Well, I'm working right now. Not off 'til four." He shrugged dismissively. No need to refuse when he didn't have a choice in working.

"Oh." His tone dropped the confidence Gavin had never noticed, but only knew of now that it was gone. "I suppose I shouldn't have presumed. Thank you for indulging me, I hope I didn't interrupt your day too much."

"I didn't say no." Gavin piped up, hit with a pang of guilt. "I get coffee after work too." He could feel himself flushing, "Maybe I can buy you a cup?"

"Gavin, I have no need for food or drink."

"Then maybe you can just come so I can have some company?" Gavin tried for a small smile, despite feeling like an absolute idiot.

"I would like that."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading and please feel free to send comments or prompts here or @mpmwrites on tumblr!


End file.
